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THE CHRYSLERS RE-UNITED!by Larry Jackson08/22/2005To quote Charles Dickens, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...". Yesterday, THE CHRYSLERS, long thought forgotten, far flung across the United States, came together for the 1st time in over 35 years! Unlike Charles Dickens, this reunion did not reflect a countries status but, for THE CHRYSLERS and their friends, it was a moment of great bonding and sad farewells. The Original Quartet...:Amp, Bert, Larry and Randy, formed the original Chryslor quartet in the 1960's, met at Andre's home on Sunday August 21, 2005. In the mid 1960's, Andre joined- no... Andre 'melted' into THE CHRYSLORS to create the heralded "Chrysler" quintet of stage and television. Andre Towles, Bertram Murray, Larry Jackson, Randolph Hammond, and Wendell Amprey were the original CHRYSLERS. The musicians, on occasions had been promoted as: 1) THE 5 CHRYSLERS; 2) THE CHRYSLORS; 3) THE CHRYSLERS & THE MONARCHS BAND; 4) THE CHRYSLER MOVEMENT PLUS; and 5) THE CHRYSLERS & THE MASCALAROS. The Next Generation...:To add camaraderie to this existing reunion, 2nd., 3rd. and even 4th. generation Chryslers ( see "The Musical Voyage..." ) were present or represented. Steve Scribner, who was a high impact 2nd. generation Chrysler, blessed all with his presence. "The Scrib" as he was called, is still performing on stage. Steve showed us all that, he still can sing and man can he ever! Steve is currently promoting and performing with "M.W.T." (Metro-West Temps) and can be contacted for bookings at 410-532-2274. Additionally, Steve represented the presence of 3rd. generation Chrysler, Darnell McManus. Darnell ( right-rear in picture ) was not able to join us on Sunday but, Scrib's presence joyfully reminded us all, of THE CHRYSLER bond between generations . Harold Woodland, of WOODLAND TELECOM ( Woodland Telecom ), was present. Harold represented Lamont Davis. ( see Lamont Davis ). It was Harold, who introduced THE CHRYSLERS to Lamont back in the 1960's. Lamont was the lead voice on "Because I Love You", hit single by THE CHRYSLERS & THE MONARCHS BAND circa 1967. Also, Lamont was the 1st. of the 'next generation' of Chryslers. ( see "The Musical Voyage..." ) BALTIMORE SOUNDS MEET THE CHRYSLERS...:THE CHRYSLER reunion needed no additional fuel for camaraderie, memorabilia and fun... but it came. Joe Vaccarrino, author of BALTIMORE SOUNDS ( MJAM press Sykesville, MD USA, http://www.baltimoresounds.com/ ) came to witness the event and to research for his next follow-up book. Joe brought a copy of his book and shared it with THE CHRYSLERS. BALTIMORE SOUNDS is over 350 pages of reference on music and musicians with a Baltimore, Maryland USA connection between 1950 and 1989. Joe has a small entry in his book about THE CHRYSLERS, another entry about THE MONARCHS, still another about THE MASCALAROS, etc. Until recent, Joe, as like many, where not aware of all the names THE CHRYSLERS performed under or with. It was really surprising, when the Chrysler members began seeing names in the book of other musicians, with whom they performed with, personal friendships or had promotional connections. Names of new generation members for the Temptations and Miracles (Motown). The Royalettes, Bob Brady & Concords, Frankie & The Spindles, The Softones and so on are in this book. Add a few names of super famous Baltimore musicians like Cab Callaway, Billie Holiday, The Orioles (1940's & 50's singers not Baseball) to Joe's book, and currently Fertle Ground is expected to land in Joe's upcoming book. Baltimore may well be the biggest 'little town' in performing arts. It ain't over till it's over...:THE CHRYSLERS agreed to continue their reunion as an annual event. The time between reunions, will be spent gathering information for contacting other Chrysler members. By this authors count, their are 12 Chryslers in total. This number represents the original 5 Chryslers and 7 new generation members. There are 2 bands that toured with the Chryslers regularly (THE MONARCHS and THE MASCALAROS) and 2 bands (THE VONDELLS and THE CAMAROS) that formed themselves from members encouraged by THE CHRYSLERS to create bands. ( see "The Musical Voyage..." ) Added to that, their briefly were 3 girls from Edmonson village that performed 1 Night Club show as the Chrysler sister act. Unfortunately, their identity is not available at this time. As a last unexpected but- request act, THE CHRYSLERS belted out a few songs from their youth. Randy and Steve showed they still have great 'pipes'. And if this author may humbly say so, Larry was not too bad himself! Look forward to additional updates on the new Annual Chrysler Reunion Event as they occur. I suspect it may grow into a BALTIMORE SOUNDS REUNION before long. From Baltimore, Maryland, United States of Great America... "Good Night Sweetheart" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This article, or portions thereof, may be copied, reproduced and shared with others as long as, this resource is present with the article, it's content and links are not altered and no fee is charged to access it. Larry Jackson is a retired Chrysler and 1 of the original founders. Presently, his eCommerce websites may be found at www.JJplace.com & Larry's personal site (including the Chryslers) is www.LarryJackson.net He is a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer ( MCSE), and A+ certified consultant. Larry is a former Series 6 Security Agent and Risks Management Agent and currently consulting in ecommerce. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |